Rotterdam Allah-Las concert canceled - suspicious van found



A Spanish van with gas bottles has been found near a Rotterdam venue after officials canceled a concert by the American rock band Allah-Las. The city's mayor says a tip came from Spanish police. The driver was arrested.

Alert in Rotterdam

Rotterdam Allah-Las concert canceled - suspicious van found

A Spanish van with gas bottles has been found near a Rotterdam venue after officials canceled a concert by the American rock band Allah-Las. The city's mayor says a tip came from Spanish police. The driver was arrested.
The van being examined by a police office in Rotterdam

Rotterdam's mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told a hastily called press conference that the Allah-Las concert was called off after Dutch police received a terror alert from Spanish colleagues.
He said that the driver of a van with Spanish license plates and containing gas battles had been detained, but added that no link had been established between the vehicle and the warning.
"We can't say that yet," said Mayor Aboutaleb.
"It would be wrong at this moment to pile up these facts and conclude: thus there was a plan to attack with gas bottles, etcetera, because that was the picture last week in Barcelona. I would be careful with that," said Aboutaleb.
According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the detained driver was a Spanish national.
Rotterdam police said the van, containing "a couple of gas bottles," was stopped mid-evening by an officer deployed near the venue after the concert cancellation.
Reuters subsequently quoted a judicial source in Madrid as saying the van found in Rotterdam was not connected to last week's vehicle attacks in Barcelona and adjacent areas of Catalonia in which 15 people were killed.
Band from Los Angeles
Earlier, concert organizer Rotown had tweeted that Wednesday night's performance at the Maassilo venue - a towering former grain silo complex - had been cancelled on orders from police.
Allah-Las is a four-piece band from Los Angeles.
Warning taken seriously
Rotterdam police said they had taken seriously the warning from Spanish police and "after discussion with organizers it was decided to cancel the event."
Rotown said the cancellation decision preceded the concert's intended start.
Only a few of the 1,000 expected guests had reportedly arrived when the harbor-side venue was evacuated.
Dutch television showed police in in body armor outside Maassilo and what appeared to be band members leaving in a white vehicle with a police escort.
The Dutch news agency ANP said the band left the venue under police protection.
The news agency AFP said the tip-off from Spanish authorities was received around 5.30 pm (1530 UTC). The large building was searched by a Dutch anti-terror squad.
Band 'unharmed'
The band's label, Mexican Summer, told the Associated Press news agency that the group's members were safe.
"The band is unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam Police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt," it added.
Name choice 'understood'
Last year, band members told the British newspaper The Guardian that they chose the word Allah, Arabic for God, because they were seeking a "holy sounding" name and did not realize it might cause offense to Muslims.
Lead singer Miles Michaud said the band replied to emails from complainants and "mainly they understand."



Rotterdam Allah-Las concert canceled - suspicious van found | News | DW | 23.08.2017